Slice of a Whole
by OCfan11
Summary: Or a piece that doesn't fit. It's all fun and games while it lasts. In one world, Amiibo became a big thing. In this world... nothing. Just snapshots of a normal life, and a pocket full of loose change.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Adam is a normal boy. Sometimes he plays inside, sometimes he plays outside. Sometimes, he plays videogames.

Adam is fifteen years old and his first Amiibo is Mario. "So cool," he breathes and trains the little AI in spamming fire balls. In return, it takes until level thirty before he can't beat it all the time. The Amiibo gives him presents and coins, which he normally uses to buy trophies for his ever-growing, virtual collection on the game. Little statues that hold data isn't a new idea, but Adam has grown up with a Wii and training AIs of his favourite characters is a marvel.

(Maybe, in another universe, the Wii U could have been a great seller. Amiibo could have been a new way to play, and real-life tournaments could have become a thing. Not cock-fighting, but a standard tournament. A niche where players stand off to the side and watch AIs fight it out on a big screen, a large crowd cheering them on.)

What happens, though, is that Adam is the only one of his friends with a Wii U. Two friends train up their own Amiibo on their 3DS. Prices for the figurines rise. Amiibo become more collectors item than play-thing. There is a struggle to find them in small-town stores, and even big cities sell-out fast or get the restock slowly. Between the figurines for games such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Animal Crossing, the market never balances itself out. By the time the Switch console releases it's version of Super Smash Bros, plenty game-store shelves are bare.

But that's the future.

By sixteen years old, Adam has three Amiibo. Mario, Link, and Peach. Because Peach is crazy powerful now. At eighteen he has five of them, and a brand-new Switch console. He also does not have time to play. No time to train. Some days he'll set up a homework station and have them train, but he has a hard time focusing. Down-time is spent with friends, or on Mario Odyssey. Sometimes on Breath of the Wild. It's a stab in the feelings to realize he likely won't finish playing for years to come.

He will be nineteen when the Switch version releases. Nineteen, and with vague dreams of the future. Of what he will do with his life. As much as he watches the information come out with a close eye, there is little time to speculate. Applications must be sent out, money must be made. The only thoughts he spares for it come when a few friends comment on getting a new Amiibo, or when his siblings claim they are going to buy him one and what does he want?

Adam looks towards the coming roster and sighs. He wants time to play. The young man collects the eight Amiibo figurines tucked around his room. He plugs in his Wii U to charge. Everything gets set so the AIs can face each other while he does work. There is barely a second thought as he ducks his head and ignores the fighters ducking it out on screen.

Why should he think twice?

(It's not like every other universe, where nothing changes. Where the fracturing of space and time in a universe so far away has no effect.)

Adam blinks at the wasteland he's fallen in to. He stands, glancing every which way to make sense of the world. Then he pauses. Hand slowly reaches down, into his jean pocket. Counts eight uncomfortably large coins. Pulls one out.

The symbol of Super Smash Brothers reflects on the coin's surface.

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Super Smash Bros or any characters affiliated with the franchise. All rights belong to their respective owners.**

 **A/N: I've had this idea floating around since the 3DS and Wii U trailers. With a confirmed story mode on the Switch game, I thought it was finally time to do something with it.**

 **Thank you for reading**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

It takes an hour to realize he isn't going back. To forge ahead into the wastes, looking for life, food, water, or shelter. It takes ten minutes to come across another person, who likely isn't a person.

"Mario?" Adam finally blurts out to the dark being with glowing red eyes. It blinks, tilting its head up to get a better look at him. Its dark hat clearly portrays the large letter 'M'.

It attacks.

"Whoa!" Adam lunges to the side, scrambling back to his feet. "Hey, stop- stop it!"

He barely misses the fire ball, hissing as the hem of his shirt smolders. He dodges, dodges, dodges-

Punches.

"Oh f-" he trails off in a hiss, clutching at his hand. It was like punching stone. The young man's knuckles throb while the shadowy Mario swoops in for a grab. Adam drops and rolls, something clicking in his mind. He digs through a pocket, hoping he's wrong. "Go away!"

The dark Mario jumps into the air. It twists, and then shoves downwards for a ground pound. Adam throws the coin as he attempts to roll away.

A _tink_ , a _whoosh_ , and then the sound of a small, dense object hitting dirt. Once seen, Adam can't look away from the statue. It doesn't disappear, the dark Mario doesn't come back, and the human is still un-squished.

"It worked," he states dumbly, hauling to his feet. He shuffles closer, hesitant to be near. The air is still, the sun is going down. The Mario Amiibo look-a-like stays fallen on its side. "This really isn't home."

He could hold out hope of temporal displacement, but no one turns into statues in his universe. This is a bit more soul-crushing then he would have liked to experience. Adam bends, but pauses with one hand hovering over the figurine. Does he really want to take it? No, but he's not going to leave it where someone can activate the trophy again. There are only seven coins left in his pocket. He knows better than to touch the base. There's no room to store it, so the young man keeps walking with one hand on the coins, and the other wrapped around the statue's head.

This time, he stays out of sight best he can. Ducking behind rocks at the slightest sound, and sprinting quietly through open areas. There are more dark creatures, unfortunately recognizable from different games. Marios and Links, sometimes a Duck Hunt Dog and Bird, travel the ground. Two different kinds of Pits circle the air. Once, there was some kind of spaceship that zoomed over.

Once, there was a scream. Adam paused, but didn't dare follow the dozens of dark creatures swarming towards the sound. He counts himself lucky and moves through the now-unpatrolled routes.

The guilt is a small, constant knaw until it gets dark. The temperature drops, his stomach keeps rumbling, and he's trapped in a heavily patrolled area. Some of the dark creatures have strange flashlight-like eyes. Others see in the dark. With his back between a rock and a lost cause, Adam has to carefully stuff the Mario statue into his coin pocket to free his hands. His fingers are raw and nails torn by the time he climbs to a divot in the rock to rest and hide. It's not comfortable, but he won't be spotted.

Instead, he's high enough to see the world he's in. It's a beautiful, patchwork mess. Rainbows shine far off, like street lamps. It's a long way to a zone beside the wasteland.

"Where am I?" Adam whispers. He blinks between following the lights and the ships coming and going far, _far_ in the distance. He wishes for a fire, or to have ended up in a warmer place. If he survives the night, then he'll aim for the green areas. Hopefully there's a jungle; he still needs food and water. "What is this?"

What happened, and why is he here?

(He doesn't sleep much that night.)

There is a lull between patrols in the early morning rays. Adam ever so slowly slides his way down the rock, joints stiff and protesting. He cuts it close, letting go just after the latest dark Link shuffles by. The young man doesn't stick the landing, trophy popping out of his pocket. He grunts and gets to his feet, reaching down without thinking.

Adam swears. The life-size Mario stares back, almost curious. Its clothing is black and eyes are red. The human scrambles away quickly, falling on his behind in his hurry. It doesn't move towards him, instead whirling around in the opposite direction.

"What…?" Adam breathes, peeking from behind the darkly-dressed Mario. A fireball whizzes past, the human yelping and rolling away. Climbing to his feet, Adam watches as the statue Mario and a patrolling shadow Mario fight it out. He's being defended by the once-statue.

No confidence he's getting out alive. The statue Mario sucks.

Both Marios have the same move-set, but the statue is sloppy. The patrol uses one attack and retreats. The statue can't even land an attack, moving slowly and broadcasting each movement. It's rather embarrassing. Adam sneaks around, finds a baseball-sized rock, and hurls it with alright accuracy at the shadow version. It hits the face with a _crack_. The patrol's head swivels and its glare is like a bucket of cold water for Adam; _why is he still here when he can run_? "Pick on someone your own level."

It takes a step forwards, but dark Mario punches from the side with more force than before. The moment of hesitation – choosing between the statue or Adam – lets dark Mario get enough hits in to knock it down. There is a pause in the battle. Dark Mario's step towards the opponent is interrupted when Adam grabs its arm and pulls. "Run!"

It lets itself get pulled, and then runs with the sprinting human. Meanwhile Adam has thrown all caution to the wind and wants to get away from the shadow beings. Shadow Mario was about to get backup, and now every patrol who sees them runs after them. The human takes sharp corners around rocks, always searching. They're much closer to the boarder of the wastes when he spots a cavern. Dark Mario follows his sudden direction change and they loop around a rock. Their tails never see them enter the cave.

He has to hold dark Mario back when the shadows pass, but it's worth the relief when no one comes by for a dozen minutes. "That was a close one." He sits next to the once-statue. "So, you don't like those guys either?"

It shakes its head. Points at Adam. Mimics punching.

"You attacked… me?" It shakes its head. "Attacked because of me?" So-so. "Because they attacked me?" _Yes_.

"It doesn't matter that you were one?" _No_. That's confusing. More importantly, "So… you're not going to attack me?"

Points at Adam, mimics punching, firmly shakes its head. _Not going to attack you._

"Okay." That's that. "Um, I'm Adam. Do you have a name?"

Shakes its head.

A pause. "I'm just going to call you Rio." Too many Marios running around. "Any objection?" _No_. "Okay." They fall into silence again. "You're fighting sucks."

Rio looks very offened.

"It does. It's like you've have no training." It's face goes blank. "Has… anyone taught you how to punch someone? Like, the quick-and-dirty fighting styles." It's pointedly looking away. "Oh, wow. Okay. Come on, stand up. I'm going to teach you a few things since you want to fight so much."

It's a short lesson, stopped only when Adam's stomach becomes too loud to ignore. "Yah, we should get going. They're probably gone by now."

When he pokes his head out to see, he stares. Face-to-face with another human.

" _Ah!_ " she screams and he shouts. The jump back, gaping at each other. " _You're human! So are you!"_

"Oh, wha- no," Adam turns and drags Rio backwards by his collar. "I'm not under attack. Just calm down, jeez."

"I'm okay, Kirby," the young woman says, clutching at her chest. "He just scared me."

"You scared _me_ ," Adam rebuttals. "I thought you might have been more of those shadow things."

"Poyo," Kirby huffs.

"Sorry," Adam replies, embarrassed. "Wait, are you actually Kirby? Or are you like Rio?"

"Poyo," Kirby glares suspiciously.

"Oh, wow," Adam swallows thickly. "It's an honor to meet you. Um, Rio was one of the shadows but when he touched a coin," he shows one off, "he turned into a statue."

Kirby rears back. "Poyo?"

"I won't," Adam swears. He glances between the human and pink ball of dark matter. "I'm Adam."

"Reina," she holds out a hand. "We've really got to be going soon."

"Agreed," Adam huffs. "Thanks for letting us tag along."

"Poyo."

Reina smiles. "What he said."

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! A big thank-you to Ethhar for reviewing! I really appreciate the support.**

 **(No idea where this is going until the game comes out.)**

 **Hope every enjoyed the chapter**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

In contrast to Adam's short dark hair, Reina's wild mane of orange sticks out against the greying wasteland background. Likewise, Rio blends in better than Kirby. The biggest difference of all them is that Kirby can defeat the patrolling shadows with ease. The three weaklings stand back and watch the latest massacre, Rio a bit sad it can't join in. The humans use this time to catch up on events. "Really?"

"Yep," Reina nods. "I was even in the middle of playing the newest Call of Duty, nowhere near any Nintendo console. Next thing I knew, I was here. Kirby found me when I was surrounded by those shadows." She pats her pocket. "Had no idea what the coins were until he told me. He wants me to try using them on spirits, except I can't see them."

Rio perks up, watching the humans with interest now that Kirby's done with the wave of shadow people. "Spirits?"

"Apparently they're everywhere." Rio nods in agreement. "Can you see them too?"

It nods again and starts pointing randomly. Adam tries but… "Can't see them."

Rio pouts.

"I wonder if it's a human thing," Reina shrugs and hurries over to Kirby. "Thank you."

"Poyo."

"Yah, this is the last of it though." She hands him half a granola bar. Kirby inhales it, almost knocking them off their feet.

"Poyo."

They're walking leads them to the edge of the cliff, grass starting to form under their feet. Adam has to ask, "Do you think there's any food or… water…" he doesn't finish that question. "Okay, does anyone else see the giant floating hand?"

"Poyo!" Kirby starts running. The tired humans stumble after him, and Rio keeping pace easily. "Poyo!"

Adam feels his eyes widening unbidden as the floating right-hand bunches up a few fingers. Then it snaps.

"Poyo!"

Light shoots up around the area of ruins. Adam stumbles to a stop, raising his arms over his face. When the blinding finally subsides, he raises his head just in time for the hand to _fold itself in space and disappear._ "What was that?"

"A barrier," Reina says coolly, slowly walking by. Her face is neutrally set, eyes not straying from the pink blob shouting threats from the edge of the cliff. "That was Master Hand, right?"

"I think so?"

"Then why…?" she finally looks world in front of them. "Wasn't he actually… good? In the Wii game?"

"I though he was." Adam stays back, looking over the barrier. The logical side catches a problem with the rainbow barricade immediately. "Why doesn't it go all the way around?" Rio is the only one close enough to hear him. It shrugs.

It's not over. More and more Hands appear in the distance, snapping and folding themselves away. Every snap can be heard, but not every damage can be seen. Rainbow barriers rarely flash into existence, yet Kirby still sighs in defeat.

"Hey," Reina leans down to poke her head beside the little guy. "Cheer up. We _will_ get your friends back."

"Yah," Adam agrees, slowly dragging his feet over. "We'll figure out how to see spirits too, and we'll help you figure out this place," he waves at the world, new for all of them. Maybe They'll find a way home, and maybe they won't. What matters right now is helping the characters of his childhood nostalgia. He has no qualms running away, but he could never willingly leave his heroes to float around with no agency of their own.

He wouldn't want to leave the broken world, wouldn't want to leave Kirby to do this alone.

Kirby finds a path of sorts that curls around the wasteland they were on. There is a lone shadow Mario that Kirby says is weak enough for Rio to try fighting. The double team the thing, the humans cheering them on.

The more Rio punches, the stronger he seems to get.

"You're definitely getting better," Adam says as he checks over the dark Mario. He tsks slightly, spotting a fading bruise. Rio twitches when the human pokes it. "It's gone, but you're still hurt, aren't you?"

"Poyo," Kirby answers while Rio nods.

"So you need food too," Adam takes the information and relates it back to the games. Food heals all wounds. "Then we better find some, for all of us."

Reina's already said she's heard the sound of rushing water. Before they can move to the next platform, Kirby stops them. "Poyo."

"Who?" Reina asks, peaking around corner. She frowns. "You've already fought one of these before. A bunch of times."

"Poyo," he shakes his head. "Poyo."

 _How's it different_ , Adam wants to ask. One glaring difference is when Kirby steps into view, the shadow Mario doesn't attack. It's movements are all professional, though. It's skin solidifies into something more life-like, eyes a real blue with a glaring red dot in the middle. Then there's a twitch, a shift of the light. A rainbow strand connecting a fist to something behind it.

Adam doesn't feel any more unease than usual. Not until Kirby goes to face the realistically dark Mario alone and the world around them shifts. "That's a Pikmin stage."

"A what?"

"Pikmin," Adam blinks, eyes watching every blow as the two fighters push each other back and forth across the battlefield. "It's a game." He ignores Reina ' _I know that'_ , because she did ask, "they're the things that follow Olimar."

"Oh," she is tense as a wire, hands clenching every time Kirby is hit. "Do you think it's got something to do with-"

The shadow Mario changes into metal Mario.

"That cheat!" Reina shouts and stomps a foot. Kirby's still doing well, but obviously tiring against the heavy opponent. "Slice him into pieces, Kirby!"

"Hiyah!" Kirby does appear to give up trying to suck the creature up and pulls out a giant sword for one great hit. With all the damage already taken, the creature goes flying. It's body dissolves into shadow particles and the world reverts into the mountainside. "Poyo?"

"What is what?" Reina demands, jogging over.

"What's wrong?" Adam says and Rio tugs him back. The dark Mario points up at the shadow particles, where Kirby is flying up to. "Is that… paper?"

"A sticker," Reina breathes when they all meet up. She's obviously shocked. "And it… allows you to turn metal?"

"Poyo!"

"Wait, that is the main part of," Adam waves his hands until Kirby repeats the name. "Smoky Progg? So, the main parts of spirits turn into stickers?"

"Poyo."

 _Likely, he says_ , Adam shakes his head. "So, all those patrolling are what? Leftover scraps of spirits? Wait," he whips around to Rio, "then what are you? What _were_ you?"

Rio shrugs. _Don't know._ Of course he doesn't. Adam groans.

"Doesn't matter," Reina snaps out, pulling his attention back to now. She places the sticker on Kirby, like he asked. The pink puffball gives turning metal a try. It… doesn't last long until the sticker needs to recharge. _Weird_. "We've got to keep moving." She straightens and looks down the path. "Maybe… now that we have the spirit, we can gather it's other parts. Put it back together."

"Poyo," Kirby sighs.

"I hope so too," Adam mutters, watching the human and fighter walk ahead. He motions that Rio go forward as well, while he glances to the wide world before them. "Or it's going to be a lonely place."

In the distance, another Master Hand snaps its fingers.

* * *

 **A/N: *Sees a dozen minutes of gameplay* I can work with this.**

 **Thanks for reading! A big thank you to Blaise Welshman and TheParadoxicalOxymoron for reviewing! I really appreciate the support.**

 **Crossing fingers that next chapter can introduce the spirit's wanted board. If nothing else, a potential party member is coming.**

 **Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter**


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